Rzewski The People United Will Never
Be Defeated!

Corey Hamm (pf)

Redshift RecordsTK431

57 minutes

In the endearing liner notes to this
recording, Corey Hamm, a piano professor
at the University of British Columbia
School of Music, describes how he first
discovered the cult work, recorded by its
dedicatee Ursula Oppens. It marked the
beginning of a lifelong love affair with the
music, which culminated in a performance
in front of the composer at an event to
honour Rzewski’s 70
birthday, in 2008.
There is stiff competition on the recording
front – Marc-André Hamelin (Hyperion),
Ralph van Raat (Naxos) and Rzewski
himself (various), to name a few – but
Hamm is a worthy advocate. Based on a
Chilean resistance song, the variations are
grouped into a series of six interlinking
cycles. Hamm handles the twists and turns
– not to mention highly complex technical
demands – with aplomb. There is no
cadenza in this interpretation.